Justin Masterson shuts out the Yankees in game one of Tribe double-header

How do you save a pitching staff from getting overworked? Throwing a complete game shutout in game one of a double-header sure helps.

That’s exactly what Justin Masterson (6-2) did this afternoon. The Indians right-hander made a Jason Kipnis solo home run stand up for his second one to nothing shutout of the season.

The only hint of trouble Masterson had all game came in the second inning. After getting the first two batters out, Chris Nelson got an infield hit. Masterson then walked Joseph, and gave up another infield single to Chris Stewart to load the bases. Masterson ended the threat with a punchout of Alberto Gonzalez.

Justin Masterson had great control of his slider, using it as his strikeout pitch for most of his nine strikeouts. He allowed four hits and walked three, but was dominant all afternoon.

With the win Cleveland moves .5 game ahead of the Tigers for sole possession of first place in the Central Division. The Tigers play Houston tonight while the Indians finish the double-header against the Yankees. Trevor Bauer pitches for the Indians.

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Dear Trevor Bauer,
I know you know what you’re doing, but take a look. That’s how you get major league hitters out – establish the strike zone, get ahead of hiters, and throw your nasty stuff when you’ve got them on the ropes.
Sincerely,
The Fans of Cleveland

TSR3000

Well said.

Vindictive_Pat

Couldn’t have asked for a better game to listen to while at work. Hammy was in rare form and it was a close game throughout with some base-running threats. Too much fun.

FearTheRoo

Too bad Masty couldn’t pitch 19 innings…Going to need the bats to wake up for the second game

FearTheRoo

**meant to say 18 innings

mgbode

with the way we hit game1, we might need 19 innings of Masterson

mgbode

i have no audio at work, but having the mini-screen on my 2nd monitor is sure nice to have when the Tribe is winning. how about those late inning pitches by Masterson? I think Ichiro is still staring at the plate in misbelief.

Vindictive_Pat

Making Nuno look like Greg Maddux so far. Tribe bats still haven’t figured how to hit Yankees pitching this season. Hopefully the 2nd time through the order will yield better results. To his credit, Nuno is working at a Masterson-esque pace.

Vindictive_Pat

That pitch that struck out Ichiro looked like it was way inside on the pitch tracker. You don’t usually see Ichiro swing at a pitch like that.

Garry_Owen

He didn’t listen to you. He’s struggling. Granted, I’m only following on “Gamecast,” but it also looks like the umpire might be blind in one or both eyes, so . . .

Garry_Owen

Who’s umpiring? My “gamecast” feed makes it look like the guy has never read the rules on what constitutes a “strike zone.”

Vindictive_Pat

I think Joey Crawford jumped on the wrong flight and ended up officiating the wrong game (and sport).

Garry_Owen

According to the strike zone thingy, any pitch higher than the batter’s belt is a “ball,” and two IDENTICAL consecutive pitches in the dirt behind the plate are, respectively, “ball” and “strike.”

Vindictive_Pat

Yeah I know that thing is not 100% accurate, or even close, but I think we can call it “reasonably accurate”. Umpire seems to be inconsistent.

mgbode

this is the type of game we need a “Vlad approach”

Vladimir Guerrero wasn’t affect much by umpires because he’d swing at anything near (or far) from the plate. Best bad ball hitter I have ever seen and we could use some of that on days like today.

mgbode

this is the type of game we need a “Vlad approach”

Vladimir Guerrero wasn’t affect much by umpires because he’d swing at anything near (or far) from the plate. Best bad ball hitter I have ever seen and we could use some of that on days like today.

Vindictive_Pat

If only we had Kung Fu Panda on our team… he’s never seen a pitch he didn’t think he could hit.

mgbode

he’s another good one. i imagine he might be able to get to all of them if he didn’t have to get past his own mass first

The_Real_Shamrock

He sure pitched better then Haggardone!

http://www.facebook.com/cb.everett.9 CB Everett

PS. Nick Haggadone, You throw nothing but gasoline on fires. Go punch another wall and sit out the rest of this season.

mgbode

it’s my fault. I stepped away from my desk, came back and it’s 7-0???

mgbode

that slider just kept breaking and breaking and breaking. Ichiro already had started his swing and just had no chance. he just stared afterwards. it.was.great.

Yeah, it's unsettling when we're betting on comeback years from a lot of key guys, be it Kipnis, Swisher, Bourn, McAllister, or Moss (from inj), or big improvement years from guys like Chiz, Bauer, Salaz...ok never mind that one.